NBA: Pacers tip Thunder; Nuggets nip Mavs

Friday

Mar 15, 2019 at 6:16 AMMar 15, 2019 at 6:17 AM

By Erik Horne

The Oklahoman

INDIANAPOLIS (TNS) — Just above the Pacers’ “P” he stepped on thousands of times in the first seven seasons of his NBA career, Paul George tried to work his way over the screen, only to collapse into a heap upon contact. The raucous crowd at Bankers Life Fieldhouse was delighted.

No word is more appropriate than “collapse” for what happened to the Thunder in a 108-106 loss to the Pacers on Thursday.

The Thunder led by as many as 19 points in the second half, but a Wesley Matthews putback with 1.8 seconds left completed a stunning comeback in which George showcased both brilliance and blunder under the pressure of his former fanbase.

It’s really hard to boo when the person you’re trying to boo is making a lot of shots. The fans at Bankers Life Fieldhouse tried their mightiest to throw George off from pregame introductions. George spurned the fan base two years ago, saying he was leaving after his contract expired, which led to him ultimately getting traded to Oklahoma City.

Two years later, the Pacers are happy with their haul of Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. Oladipo is out for the season with a knee injury, but Sabonis dominated the Thunder for 26 points on Thursday.

The Thunder is elated with George’s development into one of the most impactful players in the NBA. On Thursday, he put together his second consecutive strong performance to lead the Thunder with 36 points.

In the second quarter in which the Thunder separated from Indiana, George was outstanding, either scoring or assisting on 23 of Oklahoma City’s 34 points. But the dominance shifted after halftime.

George was kept to 2-of-5 shooting in a pivotal third quarter, and to open the fourth, the Pacers sent multiple defenders at George as he searched for fouls against contact. Indiana began to sit on George’s drives and the Thunder’s offense flatlined into isolation on five of its first six possessions.

A theme was developing: Physicality on George, which sent the crowd into hysterics and at moments flustered the Most Valuable Player candidate.

The Thunder led by 11 with 6:25 to go. By 4:04, the Pacers had cut the lead to 99-98.

Even against adversity, George is lethal. He tied the game 104-104 with a 3-pointer. His two free throws put the Thunder ahead 106-104 with 1:13 remaining.

But Sabonis scored on the other end and George summed up his night, his highs and lows in an odd sequence in which he was called for one of his five turnovers. He then single-handedly stole the ball back, then turned it over again while trying to toss to Russell Westbrook in the backcourt. That set up the final Pacers possession in which George was pulverized by a screen, something the Defensive Player of the Year candidate isn’t used to.

“I thought we slowed the game down a little bit, then we got a little stagnant,” George said. “Fast breaks, playing in transition, that’s where we’re at our best.”

“Forty-four, 45 minutes of the game tonight we were the better team. We gave them energy.”

—

Nuggets nudge Mavs

DENVER—Luka Doncic sat on the floor in the corner on the visitors’ locker room, both of his knees heavily wrapped with ice packs, his left eye beet red from a finger poke during the Dallas Mavericks’ gut-wrenching 100-99 loss to Denver Thursday night at Pepsi Center.

But as soon as Doncic saw a small group of reporters edging in his direction, he got up off the floor and immediately accepted blame for the defeat—never mind that it was his spectacular driving dunk with 5.8 seconds left that gave Dallas a 99-98 lead.

Problem was, Doncic, who got fouled on the play, missed the free-throw. And when Denver’s Nikola Jokic, after a Nuggets timeout, made a lean-away 12-footer at the buzzer, Doncic’s missed free-throw proved to be the final margin of defeat for Dallas.

“I should have made the free-throw,” he said. “I feel like I let my team down. That’s not who I’m supposed to be. That’s not who I am. I just feel like I let ‘em down. I should have made the free-throw.”

The Mavericks (27-41) lost their seventh straight game and for the 12th time in their last 13 games, but, given the circumstances, this night ranked as one of Dallas’ best efforts of the season.

Because of the snowstorm that pounded Denver and much of the Plains, the Mavericks were not able to fly here until Thursday morning, arriving at 8:50 a.m. Denver time, less than 12 hours before tipoff.

Even so, Denver (45-22) needed to rally from a 12-point deficit in the final 11 minutes to get the victory.

Doncic came within one assist of his fifth triple-double—he had 24 points and 11 rebounds—but he made just 3 of his 7 free-throw attempts. This came two nights after he was 1-for-9 from the line in a seven-point home loss to San Antonio.

Doncic admitted that Denver’s mile-high altitude affected him in the fourth quarter.

“For me, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “In the fourth quarter, I couldn’t breath, almost. I won’t lie. I was so, so tired. But you know, I think everybody a little bit (tired); we just flew in this morning.”

With 20 seconds left in the game, Denver’s Gary Harris committed a turnover with Denver leading 98-97. Denver had a foul to give, so Carlisle told Doncic to expect to be fouled with a few seconds left, after which Dallas would call timeout.

Recall that earlier this week against Houston, Carlisle elected not to call timeout with Dallas trailing 94-93. Doncic dribbled up court and was double-teamed 28 feet from the basket. He passed to Jalen Brunson, who missed at the buzzer. Afterward, Doncic said he believed Dallas should have called a timeout.

On Thursday night, though, with a plan to call timeout, the opportunity never came because Denver didn’t foul. Doncic alertly took advantage, driving through the Nuggets’ defense for a dunk that left the Pepsi Center crowd oohing well after.

“Rick told me they had a foul to give, so they’re going to foul me and then we’ll call timeout,” Doncic said. “But I guess it didn’t happen, that’s why I just went.”

Said Carlisle: “They had a foul to give, so I elected not to use a timeout; depending on if and when they took the foul we would use the timeout. But in that situation, I said it after Houston and I’ll say it again: I trust our guards. They’re good. They’re skilled. They’re smart. If they’ve got an opening and make an aggressive play, then make it.

“And he did. It was a huge play and then it’s a one-stop game.”

Jokic’s shot couldn’t have been much more difficult. The way this season has gone for Dallas, the ending was predictable.

“Everybody talks about next year, you know, and we’ve just got to build good habits,” Doncic said. “I think we have an amazing group of guys. I really enjoy playing with all of them. And we almost beat Denver, second in the West, at home. I’m really proud of my team.”

———

Jazz zap Wolves

SALT LAKE CITY — The Timberwolves didn’t have time to have a shootaround prior to their game against the Jazz on Thursday.

Instead, the Wolves were flying into Salt Lake City and getting to their hotel during the time they would normally work out and go over their game plan. That was because severe winter weather stranded them an airport for most of Wednesday in Denver and wouldn’t allow them to fly until Thursday. Saunders didn’t want to use the travel troubles as an excuse. Guard Tyus Jones said it was no big deal.

“I think everyone in this room played AAU at one point in their life, and this is a normal thing,” Jones said. “When you’re in high school you fly out the day off and go to the gym a few hours after you land.”

Whether their nightmarish Wednesday played a role in their 120-100 loss is hard to tell, but this one will go into the ledger as the Wolves’ 11th loss in their last 12 games, a stretch that began with a loss in Utah on Jan. 25.

The Wolves kept it close, but the Jazz never let the Wolves regain the lead after the first quarter and kept a multiple-possession lead most of the night.

Andrew Wiggins had 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting as he returned from a three-game absence from a left quad contusion. Karl-Anthony Towns squared off against another upper-tier NBA big man in Rudy Gobert and came away with 26 points and 12 rebounds, but he fouled out with 4:13 to play after committing three offensive fouls in the fourth quarter, including a flagrant-one against Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell had 24 points to lead the Jazz.

The old problem of foul trouble crept up for Towns in the first quarter that allowed Utah to establish an early lead.

Towns had two fouls by the 5:35 mark and headed to the bench with the Wolves ahead 15-12. After Towns’ second foul, which came on a free-throw rebound, the Wolves never led again. The Jazz and Wolves shot an identical 24 for 47 in the first half (51 percent), the difference being the Jazz hit four more 3-pointers and five more free throws. That gave them a 64-55 lead.

The Wolves came out in the second half and chipped away at Utah’s lead with Towns back. A 9-3 spurt pulled the Wolves within 71-70. It was at that score Mitchell went to the free-throw line. He made the first and missed the second but was able to get his own rebound after the second shot, a sequence of lackadaisical basketball that caused Ryan Saunders to chuck a crumpled up piece of paper he was holding.

From there, the Jazz re-opened an eight-point lead. Towns had 14 points and five rebounds in the quarter, but Kyle Korver scored five straight points to help Utah build back its lead at 86-76 with 2:30 to play and the Jazz led 91-81 after three. The Wolves couldn’t chip away at the Wolves’ lead as Towns again got in foul trouble. He picked up three offensive fouls, including the flagrant on Mitchell. He fouled out just after Mitchell hit a dagger 3-pointer to put Utah up 15 with 4:25 left, and all that was left to do was run out the clock.

———

Raptors roar past Lakers

TORONTO — The Chicago Bulls offered a respite for the Lakers, but the Toronto Raptors are on the hunt for the top seed in the Eastern Conference and played like it on Thursday night.

The Raptors beat the Lakers, 111-98, leading for nearly the entire game. Although the Lakers made a push in the second quarter and took a two-point lead, that was the only time they truly threatened the Raptors.

At halftime, they trailed 65-54 and Alex Caruso was the Lakers’ leading scorer with 14 points. Caruso finished the game with 16 points.

Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points with eight rebounds and four assists for the Raptors, while UCLA alumnus Norman Powell scored 20 points. The Lakers were led by LeBron James, who scored 29 points in 32 minutes. He also grabbed four rebounds and dished out six assists. No other starter scored more than 13 points, with Kyle Kuzma and Reggie Bullock each contributing seven points and JaVale McGee scoring nine with nine rebounds.

The Lakers have lost six of their last seven games and fell to 31-37 with Thursday’s loss. The Raptors improved to 49-20.

———

Magic cruise

ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando Magic coach Steve Clifford said with 13 games left in the regular season, his team needed to play with purpose and urgency Thursday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Mission accomplished.

Aaron Gordon finished with 21 points and D.J. Augustin had 20 as the Magic rolled to a 120-91 victory over the Cavs at Amway Center.

Nikola Vucevic finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds for his 51st double-double of the season, Terrence Ross had 14 points, and reserve center Khem Birch had a season-high 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic.

The Magic (32-38) ended a two-game losing streak and regained some of the momentum depleted when they lost four times in their previous five games.

They pulled with 1{ games of the Miami Heat for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. The Heat were idle Thursday night, but return to action Friday against the conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks.

The Magic used a first-quarter burst to take control as they split the season series with the Cavs 2-2.

Vucevic was at the center of the 21-6 run with nine points. He finished with 13 in the quarter as the Magic went on to shoot 57.7 percent from the field and put up 36 points in building a 16-point lead.

Vucevic is now 22 for 31 from the field the past two games against the Cavs.

The Magic scored the first eight points of the second quarter to push their lead to 24. The Cavs never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.

The Magic led by as many as 32 at one point.

After splitting back-to-back games at Washington and at home against Cleveland, Orlando is idle until it hosts Atlanta (24-45) Sunday.

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